Education has been on my mind a lot lately. I come from a long line of teachers. My grandmother was an art teacher, my mother is a teacher, I have an uncle and aunt who both teach and one is a principal. My sister in law is a teacher, my mother in law once taught. I love being in my kids school and helping in their classes and always have since my oldest started kindergarten. I currently serve as the pto president at my kids school and realize how important it is to be involved in my kids education. Nothing brings more joy than to work with a child who struggles and to witness that moment when they finally get it!! I have observed a lot over the years. I witnessed the change that happened when common core was implemented. I will not say its 100% all bad, but I will say I feel a good 90% is. When it comes to our amazing teachers, they give and give and give and yet someone at the top always wants more. They are paid horribly which just goes to show that they must truly love what they do in order to do what they do. At one time I think many teachers did the job with low pay because they had great benefits and retirement plans. But year after year, those benefits get worse. People cant even afford to go to the doctor with insurance anymore because deductibles are so high. Their classroom sizes just continue to grow and are expected to be able to teach to the individual. Budgets for aids are cut so they don't have the much needed help to work with those who struggle or those who excel. There is no time in a day to teach kids to be creative and free thinkers. All teachers have time for is to prep kids for the next test. There are so many standardized tests now that teachers and students alike are overwhelmed. I was visiting with a teacher from Reno this was week who said that 40% of her teacher assessment is based off her kids standardized test scores. She teaches in a state that ranks 50Th or close to it out of 50 states. This teacher expressed her feelings of leaving the teaching field. She felt the reasons she went into teaching are no longer there. All the people care about at the top are test scores. It breaks my heart that our education system is not only failing our kids but failing those who love to teach!! Year after year, budgets are cut. We are loosing the music and the art, library and PE time are slim to none. They expect our kids to test well but there inst budget to hire someone to teach our kids how to type and use a computer! If our governments goal is to turn this next generation into mindless drones than they are succeeding. Math and science are essential, no one will argue that. (except maybe on the math end because i HATE math hahaha) but isn't there more to an education that those core subjects? When do kids get to be free to express themselves, to discover other gifts and talents that they may have? Personally I was never good at the math and science type subjects. I loved drama and pottery and music. Those where what I was good at. Those were the subjects that made me feel like I was good at something. If all I had growing up what the core subjects, I probably would have felt like the dumb kid. The electives is what gave me confidence. We are loosing those elective classes now though, why??? Who has decided that giving our kids the best possible education possible was not a priority? I know there are school across the country that have even cut out recess time. I cant even imagine how kids function for 6+ hours a day without a break. As I work in my kids school I can see that the kids feel the stress. Just this last week while reading with a little boy, he didn't read as fast as the last time and became upset because he just wasn't smart enough! It broke my heart! Why would a little young boy think he was dumb unless he is in a school system that makes him feel that way? after I gave him a good talking to about how smart he really was, I tested him again and he read almost 30 more words a minute than he did before! If I didn't volunteer my time to work with these kids individually, what would they think? There is no one else that has the time to spend building them up.
So many of my friends and family ask me why if I have so many issues with education, why I don't home school. I don't home school because I don't want too... It just wouldn't work for me and my family. I applaud those who do it well and are free to teach their kids what they feel they need to learn. I wish our education system would adopt a few things from those who home school. Like the fact of allowing a child to move at their own pace. Comparing their test scores only to them self and not to every other child in the state and nation. I have found that when I test kids and they are compared to each other, the kids on the lower end are labeled as dumb or slow. But when I test a child and only compare their test scores to them self, their faces light up!! They see they are improving and getting smarter.
I don't know how to fix our education system. It starts at the top with actual educators calling the shots on curriculum and budgets. On a local and state level, I would love for us to have the freedom to adapt our teaching to our local needs and not a national level. I would love to see adequate staffing and time for all the electives. Time in the day for teachers to have fun and enjoy their jobs. I would love to see teachers paid what they deserve! Its because of them that we have all our doctors and lawyers, engineers, and scientists. I want my kids to come home and feel good about themselves and where they are at and not constantly be compared to others. I don't know how 1 person can make these changes, but I know I will continue to fight to do my part!! Now obviously I haven't lost all hope or feel that its entirely bad. I love so much about the education my kids do have. My kids attend an amazing school and have dedicated loving teachers who spend countless hours trying to give my kids the best education possible and I am so grateful for that!! I hope good things are in the future for my kids, and I hope I can find a way to help to improve our system, even in the smallest degree.
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